Journalists in the Middle East face multiple attacks

February 14, 2011 4:47 PM ET

New York, February
14, 2011--As protests spread
from Tunisia and Egypt to other countries in the region, journalists have been
targeted by security forces, in Yemen, Iran, and Algeria, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said today.

"We condemn the
authorities in Yemen, Iran, and Algeria for pursuing a course of violence and
intimidation to prevent media coverage of protests inspired by events in Egypt
and Tunisia," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa
program coordinator.

On Friday, Yemeni
security forces assaulted an undetermined number of journalists who were
covering a march in the capital, Sana'a, in solidarity with the Egyptian
revolution, according to the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate. The syndicate also reported
similar attacks on journalists on Sunday during demonstrations calling for the
ouster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Yemeni newspaper Al-Ghad
reported that journalist Khalil al-Barh was detained by unidentified men in the
kind of vehicle used by security forces for 30 minutes in Sana'a's Tahrir
square. Al-Barh was released but only after security forces roughed him up and deleted
footage from his camera, according to Al-Ghad.

Also on Sunday, in
various locations throughout the capital, men assaulted Associated Press
photographer Hani al-Ansi, Reuters photographer Khaled al-Mahdi, and Wajdi al-Salmi,
a reporter for the newspaper Hadith al-Madina. The journalists had their
cameras either confiscated or destroyed, local journalists told CPJ. Men in plainclothes
tried to kidnap prominent journalist Samia al-Aghbry but were prevented from
doing so by a group of demonstrators. Al-Aghbry was injured when she fell while
trying to escape, local journalists told CPJ. She was taken to a hospital and
released. Al-Jazeera reported on the air that the BBC's correspondent was
attacked today as he covered ongoing demonstrations, but did not provide
additional information.

The Yemeni
Journalists' Syndicate submitted a complaint to the prosecutor-general,
demanding an investigation into acts of violence and intimidation against
journalists in recent days.

In Iran, authorities
also took measures to stem reporting on demonstrations scheduled for today in
some 35 cities and towns throughout the country. In addition to keeping opposition
leaders under house arrest, cutting their phone lines and other forms of
electronic communications, and announcing that it will deal forcefully with any
demonstrators, Iranian authorities have also reduced the speed of all Internet
connections inside the country to a virtual crawl in an effort to stem the flow
of information, particularly photographs and videos of any potential
confrontations, reformist news websites reported.

On Friday, the BBC
announced that "its Persian Television service is being jammed from
within Iran following coverage of the political unrest in Egypt." BBC Global
News Director Peter Horrocks said that "jamming should stop immediately. The
events in Egypt
are being viewed by the entire world and it is wrong that our significant
Iranian audience is being denied impartial news and information from BBC
Persian TV."

Iranian officials announced
on Sunday that a specialized media court would adjudicate what it called "media
crimes" as of an unspecified date. Abbas Zagholi, a ranking official within the
judiciary, is quoted by the pro-government Khabar as saying that such a
court "was necessary because of special media crimes," without specifying what those
entailed. Press crimes are currently adjudicated by Revolutionary Courts.

Over the past week, at least five journalists have been arrested, according to
news reports. It is unclear whether these arrests are directly linked to
renewed demonstrations by the opposition or if they are part of the general
crackdown against journalists that has been ongoing since June 2009.

Plainclothes officers arrestedTaghi
Rahmani, a journalist, author, and political activist, at home on February 9,
the Deutsche Welle Persian Service reported. Though no warrant was
presented at the time of his arrest, conservative website Bultan News
quoted a "reliable source" who said that Rahmani was involved in the "seditious"
acts of 2009--a term used by the Iranian government to reference post-election
protests. Security forces arrested reformist journalists and bloggers Meysam
Mohammadi and Omid Mohaddes at home on the night of February 10, according to reformist
news website Kaleme. No official reasons for the two arrests have
been announced, according to local news websites. Journalist Maziar Khosravi was
arrested at his office in the daily Sharq on February 11. Khosravi has
previously worked as editor-in-chief of the reformist website Hammihan,
editor-in-chief of Aftab, and foreign affairs editor of reformist
newspapers Mardomsalari and Bahahr.No warrant and
no reasons were given for his arrest, according to Kaleme. Freelance
reformist journalist Nozhat Amirabadian was also arrested on February 11,
according to the reformist news website Human Rights House of Iran(RAHANA). Amirabadian
has previously worked for multiple reformist news websites such as Fararu,
Hammihan, and Aftab. No warrants or reasons for arrest were
presented at the time of Amirabadian's arrest, RAHANA reported.

In Algeria,
security forces prevented journalists from covering anti-government protests in
major Algerian cities on Saturday, according to local and international news
reports. Kamel Amarni, secretary-general of the Algerian National Syndicate,
told CPJ that security forces stopped and searched several journalists before
confiscating their equipment. Police officers detained Bilel Zehani, a
photojournalist with the Algerian agency Agence NewPress, for two hours and erased
his camera's memory card, Amarni said. Internet service was shut down for
several hours on Saturday and Facebook accounts deleted across the country, according
to news reports.